12 Mar
2025
12 Mar
'25
1:01 p.m.
Rob Pike <robpike(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Well, it's creation time right after the file is
created. I mean that's
kind of a joke, but also possibly an explanation for the comment, if you
consider the mindset of the person writing the code at the time. Then they
worked on the code some more and things moved along.
In short, it could well be an honest, original mistake.
This is what it feels like to me.
FWIW, the "creation time" comment made it's way into the Unix programming
appendix in K&R-1. It was there in the early printings of K&R-2 until
I pointed it out to Brian... :-)
I don't doubt that it being in K&R was also a source of misunderstanding
for many people.
Arnold